#907 is ready for the street

[Mikes Z car]

My 240Z car sat in the garage with the interior finisher panels removed for five years to expose the bare metal so I could work on preventing rust and other prevention and repair. Recently I completed repairing interior panels, cut shock tower vinyl, door panels, things that did not work and spraying anti corrosion material in all the rust prone areas not accessible when the car is together. I wrote blogs on some of the repair to share that. This is how the interior looks today after I put the interior back together.

I still have body work to do on the exterior in back under the bumper but that can wait; I want to drive this car. Other exterior work for under fender anti rust may also follow later, maybe new paint too. The picture above looks pretty much like the car did when I got it except I replaced the aftermarket steering wheel with a factory original steering wheel (the later one with holes) and the aftermarket shift knob with one that looks more like the original one did plus new floor mats.

My wife passed on a couple of months ago, she bought the shift knob for me for Christmas a few years ago, it will always remind me of her! She came to me in a dream a few days ago.

I put in the door sill scuff plates that say DATSUN from a 240Z at the JY. Also the gas gauge, map light, headlight and tail lights, turn signals, windshield wiper, power antenna, clock now work reliably (I added relays for lights for reliability) and the electrical connections in the fuse box and inter harness connectors have been cleaned and/or soldered to make the car reliable. I fixed some carb issues, added a third brake light that flashes, replaced the non working hatch window defroster by adding a "frostfighter" kit, replaced the water pump, added hatch window louvres, replaced the fuel pressure regulator and fixed at least one fuel leak under the hood. I greased the choke cables with spray lithium grease using the process described by Blue (Thanks Blue!) and the choke was so easy to pull the first time I tried it I thought something was broken. It used to be a real struggle to pull the choke on.

I like to go sit in the car now and listen to the newly installed radio with the new speakers I put in the back and the door speakers that were already there. I wrapped all the new speaker wires with electrical tape the full length of the car so they look like the wiring already in the car that came from the factory though of course they are hidden alongside the original wiring. I installed earphone type jacks on the back speakers with the jacks sticking out from under the interior finishers for access so I can plug in larger speakers that disconnect the rear car speakers though the speakers I put in the car behind the interior panels surprise me on how good they sound. I have a couple of larger 7" speakers with enclosures plugged in now in the back for better bass sound. It is really pleasant to listen to after listening to the radio speakers in the old DD.

#907 is ready for the street!

Edited May 20, 2014 by Mikes Z car

[tlorber]

Very nice interior. More pics would be good.

[Captain Obvious]

Sounds great! What seats are those?

[Mikes Z car]

tlorber,

Your asking for more pictures reminded me that I neglected to mention that I replaced the inner and outer hatch weatherstrip and tail light rubber seals all using Vintage Rubber weather strip products. Their rubber products fit perfectly though the hatch has to be slammed a bit to get it to close due to the inner weather seal (my hatch latch may be bent a bit). No issues at all on the outer hatch weatherstrip or the tail light weatherstrips though I have not done any water leak tests.

Also, I made my own carpet using indoor/outdoor carpet. I could not get black carpet at the time so I used gray. The cargo straps came from a 1/1972 parts car. They were stiff until I washed them in hot soapy water.

This is a bit heretical but I also added the tool bins my car did not have by installing the tool bin doors from a 1/1972 parts car. When I removed the doors from the donor car I included a one inch strip around the doors including the hinges to insure the doors would function well in their new location. The install works well though my metal working skills leave a little to be desired. Fortunately my lack of skill in that area is hidden under the carpet. I kept the metal I cut out of my car in the outside chance someone would want to weld it back in.

The front door panels are from a later model car, I am guessing from a 280Z. The car did not come with the finishers that go around the interior door handle. I have inner door panels from a 1/1972 car but I don't know how similar they are to the panels that came from the factory with my 1/1970 car. They have red cloth on them. The scuff mark on the door in the picture isn't noticeable on the car for some reason.

I also replaced the master vac and did the gas tank interior with POR 15 standard tank seal plus painted the outside of the tank with blackshell. Also replaced the filler tube. The brown stain on the right suspension in this picture is from anti corrosion spray that dripped out of the rear frame rail when I sprayed the interior of that rail. (new exhaust pipe too).

The vinyl on the shock towers on the front side towards the seats was damaged on my car when i got it. It looked like something heavy had been hauled there. I had some textured vinyl that I cut slightly larger than each hole in the vinyl and worked it into the hole followed up with silicone rubber used as a glue. I don't know if I will ever replace that vinyl or not but in any event it looks a lot better now than it did.

Captain Obvious,

The Z mechanic here told me they are $400 racing seats that is all I know. He races his 280Z, next time I see him I will ask him if he knows what they are. I remember when I drove my previous 240Z in a spirited fashion around corners I would slide in the seat sideways a bit sometimes. I can't slide with these seats they grip the road to save your life as the old ad for tires used to say.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Mikes Z car